Tireseus
by ShadowOfApate
Summary: When Willow gets turned into a boy by a demonic threat, she discovers a whole new series of problems. Series One.


Title: Tireseus   
Chapter: One/Three  
Rating: PG-16  
Pairing: Willow/Buffy   
Spoilers: Season two.  
Timeline: This is Angel becomes Angelus and goes all grr.  
Beta Readers: Scotty Welles  
Shadow Mage 

Summary: A spell sends Willow's life spiraling out of control, and  
no matter what she does things only get more and more complicated.

Disclaimer: So not mine

  
PROLOGUE  


She gulped at the two men pacing her living room. She couldn't stop  
the nervousness she'd been feeling since the two Watchers had shown up  
on her doorstep asking for her help. She could handle Giles, who was  
more of a father to her than her own father, but this was different.  
These were two freaky-acting strangers.

"What kind of help? Because I doubt I could help you, not that I don't  
want to. It's just that I'm plain old dependable Willow. There's  
nothing special about me. Well except my hacking, but no illegal  
hacking because that would be bad. Very bad, and I'm too young to go  
to jail."

The elder of the two men squinted at her over his spectacles. His   
behavior reminded her of a retired solider. Under his intense gaze she  
was tempted to back up, but there was another part of her, the part  
that helped the Slayer that was keeping her standing in front of him.

"There's been a recent series of murders, all involving young men with  
magical abilities. We believe that a demon's behind them, however  
there are too many possibilities."

She let out a relived sigh. "I'll call the others and we'll start  
doing our thing right away." 

"That's not what we need you for."

She had a very bad feeling about this. "Th-then w-w-w-why do you need   
me?"

"We want you to go undercover to catch it."

She blanched at the idea of her going... "Um, why me? I'm just a  
normal adolescent female, with absolutely no magical abilities." Yep,  
let's see them contradict that. 

"Actually you do, they're simply latent."

Really. She smiled at the idea of her, mousy Willow, a witch. Her  
eyes narrowed slightly and she crossed her arms. "But you said this   
thing went after young men. In case you hadn't noticed...I'm still a  
woman."

The younger man smirked and held up a spell book. "Not for long."

  
CHAPTER ONE  


He stood outside the library between the two Watchers he had come to  
despise. Not only had they forbade him to tell the others about this,  
but they had made it clear that she...that HE had to work with the  
others on this. He glared over at the younger Watcher, thinking that  
when this was over he was going to rip the creep a new...

The older Watcher gripped his arm and yanked him through the doors,  
ignoring the cautious looks that the others were giving them.

Giles stood and eyed the new arrivals suspiciously. "May I help you?"  
he inquired archly.

The younger man snorted softly as he took in the others, his eyes  
lingering on Angel. "This is William," he stated. "The council sent  
him to help you."

Giles frowned at the young upstart, making him take a step back. "I   
wasn't expecting him until tomorrow."

"We left early. There's an emergency that requires us to get back   
immediately. Now, if you'll excuse us..."

He watched them disappear, suddenly wanting nothing more than to go  
with them. Slowly he looked back at his friends, and swallowed under   
Buffy's gaze, suddenly feeling like a specimen on display. Running his  
hand through his short red hair, he smiled shyly at them. "Uh, hi?"

"Will, huh?" Xander chuckled. "Man, we lose one Will only to get  
another. Talk about a coincidence."

Cordiella smiled at him with a strangely predatory glint. She  
approached him and took his hand, squeezing more softly and slowly than  
a polite handshake required. "I'm Cordiella. I'd be...happy to show  
you around."

"Yeah, she just loves to take men on a tour of her body," Xander  
muttered behind her. "Then again, there's not that many men who  
haven't seen...eek!" 

He whimpered as Cordiella gripped him between the legs. "What was it  
you were saying?" she asked sweetly.

"Nothing! Nothing!!" He sunk to the floor when she let go.

Buffy smiled at him and shrugged. "Welcome to the hellmouth." She   
popped up and grabbed his elbow, stirring him away from Cordy. "I   
don't suppose you know how to use a computer?"

"I...think I can mange." His stomach fluttered as she sat next to him,  
her hand still resting against his arm. She leaned into him as she   
caught him up on the case. Her hot breath tingling his skin. Every  
once in a while he'd feel her leg brush against his. 'I'm in soooo  
much trouble. '

He leaned back in his chair, and rubbed his tired eyes. The others had  
left a few hours ago, but he hadn't been ready to. The idea of being a  
man for the next couple of weeks was strangely terrifying, and he had  
no desire to go home to bed. 

"Hey, what're you still doing here?"

He yelped as his chair fell over, with him in it. Groaning slightly as   
the image of an amused Buffy standing over him refired the hormones  
that were so fickle.

"Are you okay?" 

He reluctantly took the offered hand, nodding at her, not trusting his  
voice at the moment. Instead he righted his chair. "I...uh..." He  
cleared his squeaking voice and tried again. "I wanted to check a few  
more sites before I left." 

Buffy hopped up on the table next to him, giving him a view of her  
legs. "I'll walk you."

He glanced wearily into her face seeing the determined clench of her  
jaw. "All right, just let me shut down."

"So...you're from England?"

"Yeah. It's very...wet." He stood up, hoping that his friend didn't  
decide to question him anymore. And that she wouldn't notice the  
effect she was having on him. The male anatomy he was adjusting to  
made it harder to hide his feelings.

The manners that had been drilled into him as a young child came  
rearing up, forcing him to help her off the table. Her body slid  
against his, sending hot blood rushing through him.

"Thanks." She smiled at him, melting his heart.

"N-no p-problem."

She took his hand and guided him out of the library. "I guess you must  
miss your girlfriend, being so far away."

He let his hand drop from hers, way to aware of her proximity for  
comfort. "Oh, I don't have one."

The barest look of glee passed over her face before she covered it.  
"Oh? You broke up?" 

"I've never...uh...dated." He cleared his throat again. Trying to  
pick up their pace.

"I find that hard to believe." She cocked her head at him and smiled. 

"Why?"

"You seem to be a nice guy, not to mention cute."

'She thinks I'm cute...' He couldn't stop the large grin from  
splitting his face, giddiness over flowing him.

"I...thank you." He blushed softly ducking his head. "What about you?  
Any special men in your life?"

She sighed and leaned against him, hooking her arm through his.  
"It's...complicated."

"How?" 

"I care about Angel, but..." She trailed off awkwardly.

"Is it the 'Vampire Slayer' thing?" 

"Every time we're around each other, I have to fight my instincts."

He stopped outside his house and turned to her. "But you love him, and  
in the end that's all that matters."

She hugged him tightly. "Thank you." 

He watched her walk off, his body missing her warmth. 'Well, at least  
it can't get any worse...'

He should have known better.

He poked his head into the library, slipping inside after determining  
that it was empty. It was only lunchtime, and he had no idea how he  
was going to make it through the rest of the day. So far he'd been hit  
on by most of Cordy's clones and a number of women he'd never even  
known before today. Cordy and her group had even ambushed him a few  
minutes before trying to talk him into having lunch with them.

He just couldn't understand it; as a woman, everyone had made her life  
miserable and ignored her. But the second she was a man, he became the  
very thing she'd always dreamed about. Now, though, after seeing how  
the other side lived, all he wanted to do was become Willow again.

"There you are, I've been looking all over for you."

'Here we go again...' He forced a smile as he turned to Buffy, weary  
of her after the day's events. "Hi."

"I heard you were having a little trouble with Cordy."

He rolled his eyes. "You have no idea. I never knew that women could  
be so..."

"Predatory?"

"You could say that. I can't wait for school to be over."

A wicked statement crossed her face. "Why don't we leave?"

"You mean skip? I've never skipped in my entire life."

Buffy grabbed his arm and lead him to the back entrance of the library  
and out into the parking lot. "Then it's about time you did." 

He flopped back onto the beach in his soaking wet swim trunks, laughing  
harder as Buffy landed on his chest. His arms naturally surrounded  
her, hugging her to him. "I can't believe we did this."

She propped herself up on her elbow so that she was inches from his  
face.

" It must be hard not having a boyfriend that can do this sort of thing   
with you."

She nodded, her fingers playing over his chest. " We're not exactly  
dating anymore."

" Why what happened?"

" There's so much angst between us, and...somethings missing."  
Buffy stared down at him slyly. Her blue eyes drilling into his. Their  
bodies melded into each other instinctively. " Something I experience  
when I'm around you."

His laughter faded away as he became aware of her wet body pressed  
against hers. "Uh...maybe we shoul..."

Her lips silenced him, chasing any thoughts from his mind.

'This is wrong, she's your best friend. Bad, bad  
Will...oh...that's...' He moaned involuntarily as she ground into him,  
both of them quickly losing control. His hands began to wander over  
her back, pulling her closer to him.

She moved her lips to his neck, sucking the skin. "I feel like I've   
known you for a long time. Like you remind me of someone..." 

He shuddered under her hands. "I've...never felt anything like this  
before."

He crushed their lips back together, stripping off her swimsuit as she  
rolled over. All senses lost in a daze of hormones, and passion...

Chapter: Two  


He quietly went downstairs, hoping that Buffy would be too worn out to  
hear him. After the last few hours he needed sometime to himself. He  
just couldn't concentrate around her. It was disturbing to have the  
feelings she'd so desperately tried to deny force their way to the  
surface, and she wasn't even sure what those feelings were.

'I'm a bad, bad, evil person. I slept with my best friend. I let my  
hormones control me.' He covered his face with his hands. 'But  
was it really my hormones? Or just this body's...?'

His heart kept aching with every thought of the blonde Slayer, and when  
he actually saw her... It was almost painful. Then of course there was  
his stomach, doing all kinds of acrobatics inside him, and when they'd  
kissed that first time, a warm tingling had invaded his body.

'If I didn't know any better I'd swear I was in love with her...' His   
smile faded off his face as he ran over his feelings again. 'Oh,   
goddess forgive me, I am.'

Oh, she was a bad, bad person. She... HE'd betrayed his only female  
friend. Oh, she was soooo going to hell. The only question was what  
did she do now? Or he. Whatever.

He walked into the kitchen, reflecting that he now knew what Xander  
went through all the time. A growing teenage boy's developing libido  
was a serious matter.

He grabbed an apple, pausing to look around. He had the strangest  
feeling that something was off.

He shrugged and took a large bite of the apple, the juice running down  
his chin.

Sharp pain shot through his back, forcing him off balance. He tried to  
grab the table, but his juice covered hands slipped free, sending him   
head first into the table. A powerful presence behind him took hold of  
him...

"Hey. Rasputin, over here." Buffy's smirk faded as the older man  
disappeared.

The presence vanished, retreating from the sight of witnesses.

He moaned pitifully as Buffy kneeled over him. What was it with  
Slayers and timing? Why couldn't she have waited another minute? His  
job was to get captured, not rescued.

"Are you okay?" 

He nodded, reluctantly letting her help him. "What happened?"

"I'm not sure but we're going to find out." The determined tone in  
Buffy's tone told him one thing. His assignment had just become  
harder.

He half-heartedly fought against the Slayer as she dragged him into the  
library. The early Saturday morning rays were lighting the two-story  
library, making his already sleep-blurred eyes wince.

"What took you so long?" Xander swallowed the bite of doughnut,  
glaring at the Slayer. "So, do you mind telling us just why you  
dragged us all out of our warm beds at such an ungodly hour?"

"Oh my god, what happened to you?"

He grinned uneasy as Cordy raced over to him, gently checking the bump  
on his forehead, totally oblivious to the jealous glare that Buffy was  
giving her. 

"Will was attacked last night," Buffy replied.

He frowned slightly at Jenny Calendar coming out of Giles' office, the   
confused look on her face was setting off alarms.

The dark haired teacher stopped a few feet from him. "Willo..." 

He grabbed her arm and pulled her out into the hall. "William," he  
hissed. "Name's William, okay?" 

She shook her head, unfooled. "Willow, what happened to you?"

"It's a long story, just please promise me that you won't tell them."

Jenny pursed her lips together and nodded tightly. "Fine, but you are  
going to tell me everything. Now."

"Uh, everything?" 

"Ev-er-y-thing," she enunciated clearly. 

"What about the others? They're expecting me to help with the  
research. In fact, we should probably go back right now." He popped  
up from the living room couch, preparing to make a dash for the front  
door.

"Willow, sit down." 

He automatically plopped back down next to Miss Calendar. "How did you  
know it was me?"

"For one thing, I could sense your aura. Secondly, if I didn't know  
better, you could be Willow's fraternal twin. Now, I believe you have  
some explaining to do."

"Oh, well, see, these two Watchers showed up at my house..."

"What Watchers?" 

"They didn't tell me their names, but this one guy had this tatto  
on the side of his neck, like a horned goat or something. They  
said that this demon was killing teenage boys, and they wanted  
me to go undercover."

Jenny frowned at him. "Why would they want to use you?"

"They said something about my having abnormally strong latent powers,  
and that it would lure the demon to me."

Jenny stood and moved to the long line of bookshelves built into the  
wall, her finger tracing each book, mumbling under her breath. Half  
way down the ancient looking shelves she pulled a large, dark green,   
leather-bound book out. She absently walked back to the sofa, while  
rapidly flipping through it. "The only reason that adolescent males  
would be needed," she reason aloud, "would be for the transference  
ceremony."

"But they said..." He trailed off, trying to remember specifics of the   
men who'd showed up. They'd known all the correct information about  
the scoobies. Who was who, what they did, how much each of them were  
needed. But when it came to the Slayer, they had been coming off as  
though they were proud of her. A Slayer that disobeyed the Council's  
orders, who had a group of mortals helping her, who was also getting  
help from a vampire. "They weren't Watchers...?"

"No, they were probably members of a satanic cult. They need the  
transference ceremonies to drain the magical properties from males  
going through puberty. Females are no good to them, because of the  
inherent yin qualities, as opposed to the male yang."

"You make it sound like they're some kind of vampires."

"They are, in a way. Most of them don't have true powers, they depend  
on the ceremony to get the powers they need."

Will groaned into his hands. "And I fell right into their trap."

Jenny rubbed his back. "You didn't know. What you did was one of the   
most unselfish acts I can think of. I can't think of much that would  
make me agree to be trapped in a male form, and all the macho crap that  
comes with it." She paused. "Although there are a few days a month  
when...well, let's not get into that. Now, we better tell the other so  
that..."

"NO!! Miss Calendar, you can't! You promised!"

"We need their help if we're going to stop all this."

"I know, but if they found out I was really..." He wanted to die at   
the thought of Buffy learning who she really was, after what they'd  
done together...

Jenny stared down into his eyes and sighed. "All right, why can't I  
tell them?"

Will ducked his head, trying to control the deep blush that engulfed  
his face and neck.   
"IsortafellinlovewithBuffyandweaccidentallyslepttogether." 

Jenny collapsed back onto the couch, gaping slightly at the painfully  
shy young man. "Oh, Willow, you didn't?" 

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, but you can't just tell them. Please,  
Miss Calendar?"

She sighed heavily. "All right, on two conditions."

"Anything." 

"First, you agree to let me begin teaching you how to control your  
powers. The male form focuses them differently than the female, same  
reason only boys are targeted."

He nodded. Discovering the different centers of gravity in this form   
had given him new appreciation for the necessary adjustments. "Okay."

"Second, we tell Giles. We'll need his wisdom and guidance to deal  
with the cult, and you can trust his discretion with the...other  
matter."

He gulped. "Yeah, he'll be cool about it. He'll be calm..." 

"YOU WHAT...?!!"

He quickly ducked behind Jenny's back, trembling slightly from the  
anger radiating from her mentor. "I didn't mean to. I was only trying  
to help."

"If you'd simply come to me to begin with, none of this would've  
happened." Giles jerked off his glasses and began to wipe them.

"Actually, it would've happened anyway. These men have targeted  
Willow, since the others probably weren't strong enough to work in the  
ceremony. Even if Willow had refused, they still would've cast the  
spell on her, so that they could use her."

Giles stared hard at Jenny, his eyes flashing in frustration. "And  
you're saying that Willow is..."

"Yes."

"And just how, may I ask, do you know this?"

Jenny dropped her gaze briefly before meeting his intense gaze. "I'm  
from the gypsy tribe that cursed Angelus. I've known for a while how  
strong Willow was."

"Y-you're..." Giles sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Just  
how strong is she?" 

"Strong enough to be a part of my tribe."

"Oh dear." Giles pinched his nose, mumbling to himself. "Very well,  
we'll need to inform the others, so that we can correct this mess."

"I'm afraid that's going to be a problem."

"What now?"

Oh boy, here came the really embarrassing part...

Jenny chuckled slightly. "It seems Willow has been, ah, playing  
'Romeo' with Buffy." 

Will braced himself for another explosion, but after a long, long  
silence, Giles simply took off his glasses, rubbed at his eyes, and  
muttered, "These horny teenagers will be the death of me..."

He felt guilty. No, he felt like he should be damned for all eternity.  
His one favorite part of his personality was that he was a good  
person, one who just didn't give into temptation. Except for a few  
hours ago, when he'd...no, let's be honest, SHE'd made love to the only  
woman to befriend her, and worse, she'd loved every second of it.

There was a connection between them that had been there when he was a  
'she', but now it was even stronger, drawing her to her friend with an  
intensity that scared her. But none of it really mattered. In a few  
weeks, he'd go back to being plain old Willow, best friend. Buffy  
would be none the wiser. And these feelings would go away when she got  
her old familiar body back. Wouldn't they...?

Things were just so complicated, and she hadn't even figured out what  
she was going to do now.

The hairs on his neck stood up, it felt like someone was trying to use  
their eyes to drill into him. He swallowed and subtly began to glance  
around himself, keeping up his slow pace.

His eyes paused for a second, then dropped back to the ground. In the  
shadows across the street was a man with white hair and gold eyes that  
glowed dimly, just enough for him to see them. From the sides of his  
eyes he could see the man moving across the street, a long, metal,  
detailed staff in his right hand.

As the man drew nearer, Will was certain he could sense something dark  
radiating from the staff like the rumblings of a storm cloud.

He struggled to remain conscious, but the blackness had already begun  
to settle over his mind... 

Jenny was tired. Giles had been very unhappy with her over keeping her  
identity secret. He'd been even more unhappy when she'd told him about  
the 'happiness' clause in the curse, but he'd been downright shocked  
and saddened when he'd found about Buffy and Willow.

The blonde Slayer had been so ecstatic in the last two days. Her  
performance had improved greatly, and she was lighthearted in general.  
Both adults knew that the truth would come as a terrible blow to her,  
but they couldn't afford to deal with her heartbreak and depression  
under the current circumstances. They'd both agreed that, for the time   
being, they would allow Willow to keep this a secret, though they both  
believed that Buffy needed to know the truth. Sooner or later.

She sped up as she approached Willow's block, having decided that the  
young man should stay with her until this whole thing was over. That,  
of course, required some discretion, as a student living with a teacher  
of the opposite sex was pure scandal-fodder at the best of times. But  
desperate times called for desperate measures.

She turned left, and nearly slammed on her brakes as she spotted the  
elder man picking Willow up. She slowed down, turning off her  
headlights.

The man didn't seem to notice her as he climbed into a black van that  
was parked nearby.

She slammed her foot onto the gas pedal to follow the van racing off.  
With her free hand, she quickly dialed Giles' number on her car phone.  
'Come on, pick up...'

Buffy was almost giddy as she sneaked into Willow's house, clutching  
her overnight sack to her body. She couldn't believe any of this was  
happening. The minute she'd meet Will, she felt an intimate connection  
to him that was so strong that it was impossible for her to fight.  
Then again, she didn't want to fight it.

She silently opened the bedroom door, and entered the dark room, her  
eyes running over the nude man, now asleep. He was so beautiful in her  
eyes. Lean, pale body...

Unmoving... 

Chapter: Three  


He moaned from where he lay on the damp, wooded soil. A deep pain  
inside his head pounded away, sharp intense knives cutting through his  
mind. The pain kept intensifying until he was whimpering loudly.  
Bright dots of light flashed on the inside of his eyelids. Falling  
into a black pit of unconsciousness, he struggled until the pain was  
all consuming and burst. He screamed out as he felt something in his  
mind give way.

"The block's removed."

"Then it worked?"

"Yes, sir."

"Very well, begin the ceremony."

He muttered in protest as once more he faded into darkness... 

"Damn," Jenny whispered. Giles still wasn't there, and the cult had  
just lifted the block that was keeping Willow's powers latent. If they  
didn't stop this now, they'd be too late.

Chanting under her breath, she concentrated on Willow. 'Awaken, child.  
Before it's too late...'

The young male stirred, slowly opened his eyes. He glanced around him,   
and took in the situation. The speed with which his mind regained   
consciousness and clarity might have surprised him, if he'd been safe  
at home in bed. He wasn't.

"What the...? He's awake!"

The taut muscles in his body responded with dynamic vigor as he leapt  
to he feet, shouldered by the two figures like a football player, and  
took off into a sprint towards Jenny's hiding place. The impulse in  
his mind guided him there even before he registered her presence.

The two men chased after him, but Jenny held her hands out and chanted  
in the Ancient Tongue. A dark aura flashed out around them, leaving  
them both on the ground to weak to move.

"What did you do?" he gasped, the sudden exertion catching up to him.

Jenny led Willow towards her car. "I released the powers they'd  
stolen." 

"Yes," a chilling voice declared, "but you haven't taken mine."

They stopped short of the elder wizard standing in front of them. His  
eyes spiraled red, glowing at them. They caught a glimpse of a thin  
forked tongue, and two small horns on his forehead.

"Uh, Miss Calendar. Now would be a good time..."

He smirked at them. "Your teacher's skills are limited, young one.  
Besides, I'm afraid that, while it's simple to release borrowed magic  
from students, a Master's powers are inherent. They cannot be stolen,  
especially when the master is a demon."

Will stared down at his feet and frowned. "Oh, well I guess that idea  
is out of the question."

Jenny smiled at him. "Maybe, but there's one thing you didn't count  
on."

"Oh? And what's that?"

"Me," said a new voice.

The wizard had just begun to turn, when the sword drove straight  
through his back and out of his chest.

"That...hurt..." he rasped, staring at the blade. The wizard gasped  
and fell face first into a mud puddle, dead.

Buffy withdrew the blade quickly. "Serves you right for that  
clone you left to kill me."

Willow squeaked in surprise as the blonde Slayer kissed her  
passionately. 'My hero...'

His hands began to slide under her shirt subconsciously, before  
remembering that they weren't alone. The Slayer sighed into his mouth  
as they broke off, sensing the same thing. Giles appeared behind her,   
glanced at the dead wizard in satisfaction, then turned his attention  
to them.

He swallowed at the way Giles and Jenny were looking at him. "Uh, we  
should probably go." 

"Mmm-hmm." Buffy hugged him tightly to her, burrowing her face into  
his neck. "I was so worried about you."

"Come on, let's get out of here." 

Jenny grabbed his arm and whispered into his ear. "I think you should  
know, Giles and I conferred earlier. We're reversing the spell  
tonight."

"Hey, are you coming?" the Slayer called.

He smiled sadly at Giles. "Can we have a minute?"

"Of course." The older couple drew a discreet distance ahead.

Once alone with 'William,' Buffy jumped him again, kissing him deeply.  
"I knew you had a exhibitionist bone."

Willow eased the young blonde woman off himself. "I'm leaving  
tonight," he said without preamble.

Buffy stepped back as though she was slapped. "W-what?"

"The Council is arranging for me to have a tutor to teach me how to  
control my powers." Just enough truth to excuse the deception.

"Why can't you do that here?"

"The Council wants to keep me in a controlled environment until I reach  
a certain level of control."

"I don't want to lose you."

"I know. And I...feel the same, but..."

"But what?" She didn't understand, but then how could she?

"It doesn't matter." He smiled sadly and kissed her lightly. "I will  
always love you." He walked past her, ignoring the tears running down  
her cheeks. In that moment, he knew just how true his statement had  
been. He also knew that he would never forgive himself for hurting  
her.

Willow leaned against the living room window watching the stars  
twinkling. Hugging herself, she found the return to female form odd;  
she'd just become used to the male body, and now she had to relearn her  
own skin all over again. Giles and Jenny assured her it wouldn't take  
long to readjust, but it was more than just the physical aspect.

She'd prayed that the memory of her love for Buffy would fade along  
with the male hormones, becoming a bittersweet memory at most. But it  
hadn't. She had complete recall of their lovemaking, and how it had  
felt, both physically and emotionally. The former might be impossible  
now, but every part of her yearned for the latter.

"When are your parents coming home?"

Willow snorted angrily at the reflective image of Jenny. "Sometime in  
June." 

"That's four months away."

"They decided to make it a short trip."

Jenny walked over to her, laying a hand on her shoulder. "How would  
you feel about living with me?"

She sighed. "I appreciate the invitation, but..."

"I'm serious. You obviously don't have real parents, and it would make  
it easier on me tutoring you."

That it would. Venturing a tiny smile, she nodded. "Thank you, Miss  
Calendar."

"Jenny." Sympathetic arms encircled her shoulders, with the comfort of  
a mother's understanding.

"Jenny." Willow leaned against the gypsy, lost in her thoughts.

"Maybe you should tell her."

"No. She can't ever know." 

"Why not?"

"It...it wouldn't be right. I betrayed her trust by deceiving her.  
And anyway, I'm a girl again. She wouldn't want me this way."

"Are you sure?"

Willow snorted. "You think I don't know if my best friend is gay or  
straight?"

"Perhaps. But I wonder if her attraction to you was merely physical,   
or...whether she recognized a familiar spirit, if only subconsciously?"

The young woman shook her head. "I wish this had never happened."

"Wish what you want, Willow, but you've received a rare gift."

"Gift?!" 

Jenny crossed to her bookshelf and withdrew a volume on Greek   
mythology. "Something in here you might appreciate," she said, handing  
it to Willow. "Look up Tireseus, the advisor to Oedipus. Same thing  
happened to him."

"What same thing?"

"Zeus and Hera had a wager about who enjoyed sex more, the man or the  
woman. They changed Tireseus into a woman so he could settle it for  
them. After experiencing it both ways, he said Zeus was right, a woman  
had more fun." 

Willow took the book, intrigued. "Was he in love with his best friend,  
too?"

"It doesn't say. But...you never know." Jenny turned to leave her  
alone with the book and her thoughts.

The young witch settled into a chair, but then said, "So what happened  
to him after the bet was settled?"

Jenny smiled ruefully. "Hera got angry and blinded him for taking  
Zeus' side. Talk about a sore loser." She left.

Willow laughed for the first time in what felt like ages. She imagined  
some similar fate befalling her if Buffy ever found out who she'd  
really slept with.

But then, as Jenny said, you never know...


End file.
